Any successful company relies heavily on its ability of attracting enough potential consumers to its items, especially in fashion industry, which is full of increasing similarity between brands day by day. Companies fail to effectively establish their own identities are bound to fail in gaining their sustainable survival also among the fiercely competitive market. However, thanks to the widely influential scope of Internet and mobile platform, advertisements post via Internet and mobile platform could always be more able to better guarantee the related enterprises' developments. Because there is always a wider range of individuals to receive this information contained in the e-advertisements compared with traditional ways. Therefore, in this dissertation, some popular e-advertising approaches will be briefly introduced. And the whole fashion industry will be divided into three components after a brief introduction to this field. Then later, some suggestions about how to apply e-advertisements well in this industry will be deeply analyzed in order to better support these fashion companies based on their distinct attributes. A small survey will also be conducted to have a general idea about potential receivers' views towards e-advertisements in the social networks{174} platform in that part. By analyzing these dimensions mentioned above, companies in this field are suggested to have a general idea about their marketing environment when doing e-advertising actions. And they will be more able to success in the fierce competitive surroundings.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) can affect the peripheral, autonomic and central nervous systems and cause neuropathy. However, central defects were documented not so well as other defects. Besides, all clinical diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy is conducted according to the results of peripheral and autonomic examinations nowadays. These examinations can diagnose diabetic neuropathy only when the condition has become moderate to severe. Unfortunately, neuropathy cannot fully reverse with drug treatment or glucose control at these moderate to severe stages. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the values of Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) examination for early diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy with normal routine nerve conduction study (NCS) on peripheral nerves. BAEP was performed in three groups of Type 2 DM patients. DM-S group (16 subjects), no symptoms of neuropathy with normal routine NCS; DM+S group (16 subjects), with symptoms of neuropathy but normal or borderline routine NCS; DM+N group (14 subjects), with symptoms and abnormal routine NCS and clinically diagnosed diabetic neuropathy. Besides, 20 subjects without DM or history of neuropathy were recruited as control group with age and sex matched with the other three groups.One-way ANOVA and post he Bonferroni were used to analyze the absolute latencies (waves I, III and V), interpeak latencies (I-III, III-V and I-V) and amplitudes (waves I and V) of BAEP waves. The results showed significant difference (P<0.00l) in absolute latencies (waves I, III and V), interpeak latencies (I-III, III-V and I-V) and amplitude V between DM+N group and the other groups. The results also demonstrated a significant difference (P<0.05) in absolute latency of wave V, interpeak latency of I-V and amplitude V between DM+AS and DM-S groups. There was no significant difference in all components between DM-S group and the control group. In this study, we found a more central but less peripheral effect of diabetes on the conduction velocity of the auditory pathway. The delay in absolute latency of wave V and interpeak latency of I-V showed that the diabetic neuropathy is particularly evident at the level of the upper brainstem. Consequently, BAEP can identify central neuropathy in suspected diabetic neuropathy cases together with normal routine NCS. Thus, BAEP may be a valuable indicator to predict other diabetic complications. BAEP offers a useful means to detect central neuropathy in the early stage of diabetic neuropathy. The role of BAEP in early detection of diabetic complications needs further study.

The purpose of this dissertation is to arise those practising Engineers and undergraduates who lack ideas about earthquake effects on bare steel buildings. The reader may be generally experienced in building design but lack specific experience with earthquakes or the reader may not possess the concept in any kind. The development of the presentation in this dissertation has been carried out with both comparative part of current design code and numerical examples. The study of the materials in this dissertation will provide the reader with a general understanding of the dynamic response for various design codes of practice in the world and comparisons between wind loading and seismic loading on bare steel buildings are also incorporated. Much of the material in this dissertation should be understandable to the general reader. However, the discussions of collapse analysis and structural behavior are developed with the assumption that the reader has some background experience in these areas. A case study on wind loading and seismic loading has been provided for a hypothetical 40 storey building in Shenzhen, China and in Hong Kong. The lateral loading considerations in Hong Kong are based on the European Code, EC8 for seismic provision and Hong Kong Wind Code (1983), while for the Chinese counterpart, GBJ 11-89 and other relevant Chinese codes are adopted. The analysis of the hypothetical 40 storey building was performed using an elasto-plastic structural analysis. As a comparison, the ratio between the collapse load and the working load on the building is assumed to be the absolute factor of safety to the corresponding building at ultimate stage. Ductility ratio is also assumed as the ultimate translational displacement at the top of the building to the maximum translational displacement at the elastic region.

The Employees' Compensation Assessment Expert System(ECAES) The Employees' Compensation Assessment Board is established by the law to assess the loss of earning capacity of workers injured at work. The Assessment Boards are convened in twelve major hospitals and members of the board vary from tine to time. Consistency of the assessment standards are difficult to maintain which inevitably affects the quality of assessment. The ECAES (Employees' Compensation Assessment Expert System) is a good example of what and how an expert system can do to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of a medical assessment system. The development process of ECAES also illustrates how KADS, by far the most well-researched technique in analysis for knowledge-based systems, is applied to generate a systematic and well-documented prototype. The ECAES has a number of special features, including emphasis on certainty reasoning to enhance the confidence and realism of assessment results, use of KAPPA expert system shell as development tool, with advanced graphical user interface and object-oriented programming, extensive application of the Incrementally Acquired Evidence Technique developed by the MYCIN project and so forth. On the whole, the ECAES is a successful and fruitful experience in consolidating the art of information system with the science of uncertainty reasoning in a practical problem domain. A full-scaled development of the ECAES is highly recommended and will definitely lead to a brand-new approach of medical assessment.

Holter ECG has become a common diagnostic tool for monitoring patients who have cardiac diseases. The long term recorded ECG allows cardiologists and physicians to analyze a patient's heart function up to 24 hours continuously. These ECG signals provide information that can be used for detecting the transient arrhythmias, which may not present during the regular or exercise ECG tests in a hospital. Many useful parameters, such as the heart rate variations, atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, are commonly used to evaluate the symptomatic patients and the patients who have had myocardial infarction. During the past years, many computer aided ECG monitoring systems have been reported [1][2][3]. Although such systems can detect ECG patterns in real time, they are not suitable for high speed analysis of the long term recorded ECG signals. In this project, an efficient and fast algorithm has been developed for detection of QRS complexes and classification of normal and abnormal beats including premature atrial contraction (PAC), premature ventricular contraction (PVC) and right bundle branch block (RBBB). The algorithm uses slope, amplitude, duration and polarity information to detect the QRS complexes. After locating the positions of the QRS complexes, features such as amplitude, duration of the QRS complex are extracted for classification of the beats. The algorithm has been implemented on 486-DX33 and 486-DX66 personal computers with Turbo C++ Language (version 4.5 for Windows) and has been evaluated using records from MIT/BIH arrhythmia database. The experimental results show that the algorithm correctly detects 99.697% of the QRS complexes and identifies 99.058% of the detected beats. On average, processing 30 minutes ECG data (including QRS detection and ECG pattern recognition) takes 56 seconds and 24 seconds when the algorithm is implemented on 486-DX33 personal computer and 486-DX66 personal computer respectively. In addition, a software written in Turbo C++ Language (version 4.5 for Windows) has been developed to aid in the detection of the QRS complexes and classification of the normal beats, PACs, PVCs and RBBBs. The functions of this software include displaying ECG signals with annotations, detection of QRS complexes, recognition of ECG patterns, and beat-by-beat comparison of annotation files.

In recent years, fast economic growth combining with population expansion, domestic and industrial waste becomes a headache in waste management. Disposing of waste in a landfill remains a common practice in most countries. Hong Kong is adopting this method in handling waste disposal. Putting aside the environmental issues for the time being, land for dump sites becomes a mounting problem. According to the information given by the Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong, the total amount of municipal solid waste disposed to legal landfills was 3.4 million tons per year. If this trend prevails, landfills will exhaust by 2015. Reducing waste and deriving waste management is desperate. Based on the above reason, the production of refuse derived fuel (RDF) from waste is one of the methods to extend the life cycle of landfill. In order to apply RDF in the Pearl River Delta region, an investigation is carried out. The study includes the technical aspects such as the heating value of RDF, production technique, emission control, chimney height assessment and location selection. In addition, the importance of waste to energy mode assessment with the best performance and minimal environmental impact by using life cycle analysis (LCA) are used. The second part of this dissertation is focused on the financial aspects. The cost estimation of production plant, cost of product and capital are analysed by scenarios assumption. In this paper, raw data are gathered from library research, review of literature of related topics, journals, statistical records and reference books. RDF covers a wide range of waste materials which have been processed to fulfil technical specifications mainly to achieve sufficient heating value. Co-incineration is favourable to apply in the Pearl River Delta region as heating value is below 20MJ/kg. Guangzhou is the best location to build up a RDF production plant in the Pearl River Delta region because the comprehensive level of economic and technology in Guangzhou is ranked 45%. The capital investment for setting up facilities is estimated to meet the market competition. Using RDF to generate electricity can utilize a portion of municipal solid waste and provides environmental and economical benefits.

Storm Water was found to be a precious resource which can be recycled and storage. However, contaminants such as pathogens, heavy metal ions etc. were found to be threatening the quality of storm water. Researches have been conducted to investigate the effective technologies to treat the contaminants. Nowadays, the importance of storm water has raised more and more attention. In our study, iron oxide coated sand and its production after modification by CTAB and PolyDADMAC were applied to investigate the performance of E coli and Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ removal from storm water. And IOCS was found to have better capacities in E coli adsorption in column tests while the PolyDADMAC-IOCS had a better performance in batch tests. As for the performance of Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ removal from storm water, the results of batch test were presented to tell us that CTAB-IOCS and IOCS were respectively a better adsorbent for Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺. Then relationship between E coli adsorption and pH and TOC were studied in column test and batch test. Besides relationship between Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ adsorption and pH was also studied. The results were found out that with the increasing of Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ adsorption, the pH of the solution was decreasing.

Public open space (POS) is the unbuilt area for social activity and recreation, ecological and sustainable space means the space that is surrounded by greening area and the facilities in it can fully fulfill people's demanding requirements. As the ageing demographic trend becomes gradually apparent and the demands for POS increase dramatically, the topics that how to redevelop a dense city without undermine its POS system and how to create ecological and sustainable POS by visualizing the future living environment catch the public's huge attention. The previous researches show the definition and use some dense cities where POS is recognized as important element when implementing city planning to interpret the POS development in the world, telling people the protection and improvement of POS vary a lot because of the culture difference, geographic problem, etc. Guangzhou is chosen to be a case study city to analyze what kind of POS people really need, after the analysis of cases, some recommendations of integrated space organization methods are provided for future guideline of sustainable public open space development.

Ecological mapping in the tropics is difficult due to the heterogeneity of the vegetation, the nature of the terrain which is often highly dissected, and general problem of determining ecological boundaries which may be indistinct, even to a field observer. There are no studies in the literature discussing the successful mapping of vegetation or habitats over large areas. In the last 20 years, two habitat surveys in the form of vegetation maps have been completed by Hong Kong government departments and private consultants, with inadequate accuracy and poor results. Since these previous projects used only medium spatial resolution sensors: Landsat and Satellite pour 1'Observation de la Terre (SPOT), it may be possible to produce more accurate ecological maps using the new generation of Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite sensor images. Traditionally, habitat mapping has used Aerial Photographic Interpretation (API). However, forty-five air photos are required to cover the study area, Shing Mun and Tai Mo Shan country parks in Hong Kong, compared with a single IKONOS scene. Additional advantages of IKONOS include spatial, spectral and temporal consistency. Therefore, if a suitable methodology for automatic habitat mapping can be developed, reduced costs and less processing time would be required. This study attempts to develop a methodology for detailed ecological mapping based on a suite of integrated image processing techniques, and with stated accuracy levels, for IKONOS images. Three different methodologies were chosen for evaluation; they are 1.Manual Aerial Photographic Interpretation, 2. Automated per-pixel Maximum Likelihood Classification (with texture measures) and 3. Automated "Multi-scale object-oriented segmentation with decision tree classification" (MOOSC). These three methodologies are evaluated by comparing them with GPS field points. During the study, a series of image processing techniques were investigated for their usefulness in ecological mapping. These include image fusion, spatial autocorrelation, vegetation indices and texture analysis. Habitats were mapped at two levels of detail. The most general level is the vegetation structure, or life form level which additionally includes the plantation of Melaleuca quinquenervia since in the winter time of the study and image, it is leafless and therefore structurally different from the other evergreen woody vegetation. The more detailed mapping level is termed "hybrid" since it includes both structural types and species. The results show that above 76 percent overall accuracy at general life form level and above 71 percent at detailed hybrid level were achieved using the automatic object-based approach (MOOSC) when the results were referenced to GPS field data. This finding was similar to that obtained from aerial photographic interpretation. Since GPS data collection was restricted to accessible roads and footpaths, the air photo mapping was used for further checking for more remote areas. This second method of accuracy testing between API and MOOSC is only relative. However, since approximately 90% accuracy was achieved at both general and detailed levels from MOOSC, when the air photo mapping was used as reference, this further confirms the similarity of the air photos and IKONOS-based methods. Considering both the absolute and relative accuracies together, the study indicates that the MOOSC can be used for rural habitat mapping, at an acceptable level of accuracy. This method is demonstrated to give far superior accuracy to the results from medium resolution satellite sensors and it is a viable alternative for replacing the traditional manual aerial photographic interpretation method for mapping large areas.

Since 1990s China's manufacturing enterprises have gained big success. In the 21st century, China is becoming a truly &quot;world factory&quot; and &quot;manufacturing center&quot;. As a part of manufacturing industry, China Engineered Wood Companies also got rapid growth since 1990s. However, as other manufacturers, facing the product homogeneity, declining profit margins, and increasingly customized demands from customers, China engineered wood companies are facing unprecedented challenges now. In this study we will analyze the business development directions of China Engineered Wood Industry and identify E-Commerce as the key enabler to drive the industry with continuous growth and breakthrough. To help companies in this industry to better understand and step into E-Commerce, we will work out the staged adoption model and the key elements maturity evaluation framework which might serve as tools for China Engineered Wood Companies to adopt E-Commerce step by step with close alignment with their business development directions. We are in the early stage of constructing this theory. It is piloting in Fenglin Group which is one of the top players in China Engineered Wood Market and will be piloted in more companies and has continuous revision in the near future. We do not say this is the only way for company's success, but hoping it is one of the right ways to guide the company step by step, helping China Engineered Wood Companies to create an E-Commerce enabled better future.

The aim of this research is to make contribution in the domain of applying electronic commerce (E-commerce) applications in construction material procurement. This research reviewed the current construction material procurement process and identified its limitations relating to information retrieving, handling and sharing. A review on current applications of E-commerce and geographical information system (GIS) was undertaken and those functions of E-commerce and GIS that can be applied in construction material procurement are identified. This research also pointed out the inadequacy of existing E-commerce websites in supporting the construction material procurement functions. Based on the findings of the above reviews an E-commerce system that utilize the state of the art E-commerce and GIS technologies was developed for supporting the whole construction material procurement process. This E-commerce system is designed for trading construction materials in Mainland China and is implemented and run by a construction firm in Hong Kong. The system was evaluated based on feedback and quantitative data collected from users of the system. This system is found to be useful in supporting the purchasing personnel to carry out the material procurement jobs. Identified benefits of this E-commerce system include shorter time for searching materials and suppliers information, easier comparison of similar and alternative materials, provision of transportation distance between cities, and reduction of paperwork. This research also discussed the limitations of the developed system and the future works required for providing an E-commerce system with more comprehensive services for buyers.

This dissertation is the partial requirement of the Course The Internet's dramatic emergence as a new platform opportunity for interactive content and 3D applications challenges our company, a leading networking-based virtual reality software vendor, to master new Internet's application and technologies for business advantage. Nowadays, eBusiness takes the full speed expanding into all aspect of the world. Among all the eBusiness and eCommerce application, Internet-enable 3D virtual reality applications have been a fast growing area creating a new business opportunity. In order to gain the market shares in this new evolving area and take advantage of our experience on virtual reality and computer graphic.

Environmental issues had been widely debated in recent years throughout the People's Republic of China (PRC). The increasingly industrialization took place in China not only produced new workplaces, a vast increase in society's productive capacity, but also raising population and pollutants. The condition of the environmental quality in PRC was one of the World Bank's most serious global concerns. Neighbours of PRC such as Japan and Korea claimed their acid rains were the result of great amount of SO2 emissions in China. Chinese government began to undertake environmental expenditure in the early 1980s. The investment amount was gradually growing from year to year. But the percentage of such investment took in gross domestic production (GDP) has fluctuated from 1980s. The percentage to GDP decreased from 2.5 percent in 1980s to 1.22 percent (CNY 256.6 billion) in 2006. However, with the increased environmental investment, the environmental quality in water, air and solid didn't achieve significant progress. The pollutant discharge or emission amount from industry and domestic both increased year by year. The increase rate of treated pollutant amount cannot catch up with the increase rate of total pollutant. Therefore, weather the investment amount is enough and weather the investment is effective should be exam. This study firstly analysed the environmental pollution and pollution treatment situation in China. Important economic parameters such as GDP, employment rate, industrial production, and energy consumption were chosen to illustrate economic developing condition, and to evaluate the economic capability of investment from Chinese government and the society. Other factors affecting environmental quality were also selected to explicate the interaction between economic growth and environment pollution. After analysing PRC's environmental and economic level, four countries were selected to compare with China's investment condition, according to the similarities in economy, society, and industrialized level. Comparison conducted between PRC and India, Japan, Germany, and the United State (the U.S.) in environmental investment amount, invested area and their environmental achievements. It was found that the investment amount took by Chinese government was almost a quarter to a half of developed countries such as the U.S. and Germany. The percentage that investment amount taken in GDP by Chinese government wasn't reach the level from that by Japanese, American and German government. In such countries, the percentage maintained in more than 2 percent form 1980s, but the percentage in PRC was approximately 1.5 percent or less from year 1990. India, had the most similarities with China in the world, had a fiscal budget in environmental investment which was 20 times more than that of PRC. Suggestions for Chinese government, limitations of this study and recommendations to further research were given at the last part of this thesis.

With the development of economy and society, the world is changing. Population, industrialization, urbanization and novel materials brought a series of environmental issues to human. As the biggest developing country in the world, the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) is inevitably facing serious environmental challenges. Chinese government started to conduct environmental investment in the early 1980s and the investment was increasing year by year. However, the gross of environmental investment is greatly insufficient and the proportion of investment is quite low, compared with the growth of economy and deteriorating environmental situation. This dissertation aims to find the reasonable environmental investment scale and ratio of P.R.C.. In addition, how to improve the environmental investment and financing mechanism and how to increase the investment benefits are problems needed to be resolved. The combination of qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis is adopted in this paper to objectively reflect the nature and regularity of investment. Comparative studies (historical vertical comparison and horizontal comparison) are also used in analysis of the variation tendency of investment and comparison with U.S.In the end, conclusions and recommendations are made that the proportion of environmental investment should be raised up to 2.5% of GDP in the corresponding period. Simplex channel of environmental investment and financing should be broadened. We should improve the benefits of environmental investment by increasing the investment efficiency. A set of effective supervision and management mechanism need to be established. Scientific research investment, equipment renewal investment, and environmental education also should be strengthened. In structure, this dissertation is divided into six chapters. The first part is the introduction to the background of world environment and objective and implication of this dissertation. The second chapter is literature review which presented the previous researches on domestic and overseas environmental investment. The third part discusses the research methodology and framework of this paper and innovation and shortage of this dissertation are also discussed here. Chapter four is the key chapter of my dissertation which shows the current environmental situation of P.R.C. and detailedly discussed China's environmental investment, including the investment policy, investment and financing channel, investment scale and ratio, investment direction and structure and investment benefits. Correlation analysis of factors affecting environmental investment is also analyzed in this chapter. In chapter five, I made an investment comparison between P.R.C. and U.S. to find the investment gap and Improvement way. Chapter six is to make conclusions and recommendations.

This paper develops an economic dispatch algorithm for the determination of the optimum dispatch solution. Genetic algorithm and Dynamic Programming are two approaches widely used in problem solving. Genetic Algorithms are general-purpose search algorithms based upon the principles of evolution observed in nature. While Dynamic Programming is a nature, powerful and effectiveness approach to reveal the basic solution with a more spreads of operations. In the algorithm, the load balance constraint, the operating limit constraints are accounted for. Adjustment and modification for the two approaches are discussed. In the development of the algorithm, transmission losses are incorporated in the algorithm through the use of the B-matrix loss formula. A test system is used to demonstrate the economic dispatch application of the Genetic Algorithm and Dynamic Programming. Furthermore, the comparison between the two approaches has been discussed.

The purpose of this study was to analyze local economic impact and satisfaction level resulting from China Hi-tech Fair 2006 in Shenzhen to gain a better understanding of preferences and options of exhibitors and visitors. The research results will provide valuable information for China Hi-tech Fair management. The survey instrument was designed to describe the behaviors of exhibitors and visitors, related expenditures, satisfaction level with China Hi-tech Fair. In-depth interview was conducted on the spot and 1600 usable completed questionnaires (including 800 exhibitors and 800 visitors) for data analysis. Since there is no official multipliers data of convention and exhibition industry in Shenzhen, and what's more, a-five-day fair was rather short in terms of analyzing economic impact of one year, the expenditure resulting from China Hi-tech Fair was mainly emphasized in this study. System analysis and group interaction are the useful method to assess the economic impact in this research. On the other hand, satisfaction level is an important issue in the research of a convention and exhibition event. In this study, besides the traditional I-P research model, the systems of satisfaction level assessment are trying to build. The obvious innovation of this study is trying to explore the relationships between satisfaction level and economic impact in a convention and exhibition event. The SPSS was used to analyze these relationships and explain how satisfaction level can effect on the economic impact. It has been few focused by other researchers in this area. As the event industry is at the primary stage in mainland China, the related research works are deficient, so this study is just only a bold attempt. It is unavoidable to be some shortcomings in this study and the related research works should be deeply conducted in the future.

While realized that almost two-third of all life-cycle costs are spent in the Operations and Maintenance phase of the software life cycle, it is worth to develop a cost estimation model tailored for the software maintenance. Current cost estimation models are reviewed and their applicability in software maintenance are examined. COCOMO 2.0, to be one of algorithmic cost estimation models best document, is selected to be the basis for the proposed new model SMA-COCOMO. Though the software maintenance environment is very similar to the development one, SMA-COCOMO has taken the specific characteristics of maintenance environment into account - there is very little functional requirements changes, relatively much stable platform environment and single maintenance center. SMA-COCOMO drops the source size adjustment factor of breakage percentage, and the two multiplicative cost drivers 'platform volatility' and 'multi-site development' while adding two cost drivers 'network constraint' and 'business experience' to captures the latest software technology trends. In SMA-COCOMO, there are relationships established from the rating of three cost drivers, 'platform experience', 'language and tool experience' and 'application experience' to other cost drivers. Two data groups, 'COCOMO Maintenance Project Database' and 'Y2K Problem Fixing Costs', are used to evaluate the SMA-COCOMO. Though it failed to prove that better cost estimation for software maintenance projects can be provided by SMA-COCOMO, SMA-COCOMO provides a useful framework which provides better view on the software maintenance and it acts as a base for further study on software maintenance. However, the usefulness of SMA-COCOMO is depended on further calibration of the different cost drivers' effort multiplier and this will rely heavily on the size and quality of the maintenance project database.

The major objective of this research is to investigate a knowledge-based approach to automatically design a distributed database. The design of a distributed database consists of four phases: the design of the global schema (conceptual design); the design of data fragmentation and allocation; and the design of physical structures at each site. This research will be based on the relational database concept to design a distributed database employing artificial intelligent techniques. After input of the system requirements and constraints, the knowledge-based system, called Expert Distributed Database Design System (EDDDS), will automatically generate a feasible distributed database design for the requirements. The output includes an Entity-Relationship Model (E-R Model) diagram, and a detailed table list which has taken into consideration the normalization, data fragmentation and site allocation. The result of the system is guaranteed, by the algorithm, the procession of completeness, reconstruction, and disjointness to verify the correctness of the output. In general, the system designed is aimed at domain independence. Since knowledge-base often is domain specific, there may be something special for each domain. Therefore, the knowledge-base of E-R modelling sub-system should be implemented or changed for the other domains. I have implemented and tested the system based on the domain of a simple distributed banking system environment. It is concluded that the knowledge-base approach to distributed database design is feasible. And, the system is able to be improved through further research.

This study is concerned with the necessity for the recognition of education as the most fundamental social protection for rural migrant children in China in light of their current situation in cities. A qualitative approach was adopted; a migrant school was studied and literature on the issue of education for migrant children was reviewed. A schema for protecting the education realization of migrant children was then recommended. Among the most profound social and economical changes in the reform era must be the massive rural labor migration. Statistics from various resources indicate that the number of migrants fluctuates between 120 million and 200 million. Migrant population gets even bigger since migrant parents started reuniting with their children who used to be left behind in rural hometowns. As the number of migrant children climbs, the issue of how to educate them becomes more and more complicated. Lacking social security coverage has long been an issue for the Chinese rural population. The continual existence of the hukou system with its lingering impact still differentiate migrants from their urban counterparts and deprive them of the basic entitlements and amenities available to themselves and to their family members. Like their parents, migrant children have also experienced many hardships in cities, among which, the lack of quality education could be the most devastating one. Migrant children do not have equal access to urban public schools for they do not have local hukou. Financial incapability of their families is another major factor resulting in the lack of education for migrant children. Meanwhile, non-financial barriers also prevail, such as the frustrating registration procedures, strict quotas, a supposed shortage of school places, and discrimination acts to exclude migrants from urban schools. Education is a widely appreciated public service. With an education, migrant children could have a better and a proper place in the mainstream of the society, getting rid of the disadvantages caused by their rural identities, and to escape from the shadow of poverty and exclusion again. To protect their lawful rights to education, this research proposes to see education as the most fundamental social protection for migrant children. Referred to previous researches, this research puts forwards a social protection framework to observe the various stakeholders involved in the issue, including migrant communities, migrant homes, public schools, migrant schools, local governments, as well as the academic circle, mass media and NGOs. Findings of the three months fieldwork in Beijing, in turn, help to conceptualize the framework against the backdrop of Chinese cities. In view of the vulnerable situation of migrant children, a policy scheme consisting of four types of measures, including protective, preventive, promotive and transformative measures, is put forwards. The study concludes that education is the most important social protection for migrant children, and the policies recommended are practically feasible if implemented carefully and systematically.

Background: According to Hong Kong Cancer Registry (2012), breast cancer was ranked first in the new cases registered among female patients in 2010. Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide (AC) iS one of the anthracycline-based regimens widely used in breast cancer patients in Hong Kong. Myelosuppression is a common undesirable effect of Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide (Baxter, 2002 & Pharmachemie B. V., 2003). Myelosuppression is a life-threatening side effect because it predisposes patients to febrile neutropenia (FN) for early-stage breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy with substantial morbidity, mortality, and healthcare resources. Therefore, it is crucial to develop an education program on the prevention of FN and test its effects upon patients receiving AC regimen. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of an education program on the prevention of FN among breast cancer patients receiving AC regimen in Chemotherapy Day Centre. Methods: A randomized controlled trial with repeated-measures design was adopted. This study was carried out from September 2012 to March 2013 and included 49 subjects, 25 subjects in the intervention group and 24 subjects in the control group. Subjects in the intervention group received an individual education session followed by three follow-up sessions and routine care. Subjects in the control group received routine care only. The outcome indicators included the incidence of admission due to FN at three weeks after the fourth cycle of AC regimen (week 13), the self-care behavior adherence, the self-efficacy in self-management and the knowledge level on prevention of FN at the first cycle of AC regimen (week 1), the second cycle of AC regimen (week 4) and the fourth cycle of AC regimen (week 10). The handwashing competence was assessed at the first cycle of AC regimen (week 1) and the fourth cycle of AC regimen (week 10). Patient satisfaction on the education program was evaluated at the fourth cycle of AC regimen (week 10).Results: Despite the lesser incidence of admission in the intervention group, there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention group and the control group on the incidence of admission due to FN. The self-care behaviour adherence was similar in both groups at cycle 1 and cycle 2 of AC regimen, but the difference became significant at cycle 4 of AC regimen in favour of the intervention group (p = 0.027). There were higher scores of the self-efficacy in self-management and the knowledge on prevention of FN in the intervention group, but no significant differences were detected between the groups across time. The scores of these two outcome indicators increased significantly across time within the intervention group and the control group. Handwashing competence improved more significantly among subjects in the intervention group than the control group (p = 0.009). Although the score of patient satisfaction was higher in the intervention group, the differences between the groups in terms of patient satisfaction on the education program was statistically insignificant. Conclusion: In conclusion, the education program on the prevention of FN had significantly favourable effects on self-care behaviour adherence and handwashing competence across time. However, the intervention did not lead to statistically significant improvement on the incidence of admission due to FN, the self-efficacy in self-management, the knowledge level on prevention of FN and patient satisfaction on the education program.